This game was a bit tricky to judge...it was like judging the Mona Lisa based on a blank canvas with only 2 hands painted in. What IS there is neat, but there were not nearly as many opportunities to award stars as there were in games with at least one map and/or dungeon. However this also meant that there weren't as many reasons to deduct stars, either. All I could do was judge what was there...for better or worse. What was there consisted of one town, several NPC's, and some coding...there's no world map, not one dungeon, and no battles or enemies.LAYOUT:
Initial Layout Score:
06**********
+1 * The town looks nice overall, and has a certain character of its own.
Final Layout Score:
07**********

PLOT or CONCEPT:
Initial Plot Score:
05**********
+1 * The plot is simple, but grew on me. 'Cliche' plots are sometimes that way for a reason...because so many people can relate to them. 'Needing to pay off your parents' debts so that you can strike out on your own' may be used as a device over and over, but how many people can't relate to being held back by a lack of money? It's not bad for a beginning-game concept, but the only problem is that it's really the only main plot concept in the game at this point.
+1 * On a personal note, I liked the idea of 'rich people moving into the area and driving property taxes up'...actually I hate it...LOL!! But that's because I'm going through that EXACT thing right now. In any case, I could relate to it, and that helped to pull me into the game.
Final Plot Score:
07**********

CREATIVITY:
Initial Creativity Score:
06**********
+1 * Some of the characters are fairly well developed for such an early stage of game development
+1 * The events (such as the 'thief' event) are handled creatively
Final Creativity Score:
08**********

POLISH:
Initial Polish Score:
05**********
-1 * There's a tree growing out of one of the buildings in the town. I know this is a fairly small detail, but considering that the town & the people in it are really the the only things in the game at this point, it bothered me a little more than it otherwise would.
Final Polish Score:
04*********

FUN:
Initial Fun Score:
05**********
This is not to say that the game so far isn't fun...if it weren't fun I would have deducted a star...but there wasn't really any specific reason for adding a star, either.
Final Fun Score:
05**********FINAL SCORE:31

Final Thoughts: This is a good beginning! The game has potential to be great, but you've got to make it!
Suggestions: Work on the game!! I played this demo when I was up against it for the 'most promising demo' award at the MAG...and after playing it again, I found that it's the exact same demo! Personally, my advice is to finish the map you've got going...that will help you build more of the game really quickly, because you'll have a nice setting for things like more towns and dungeons, which can further the story, plus having a nice map can be a good point of departure, and can inspire a lot of other things. Like I said, though...it's a GOOD start! Don't be afraid to just jump right in there and work on it some more...I will be disappointed if you don't!